What Fun!

The March Knitting Weekend has come and gone, and it was a big ol' pile of fun!!! It was fabulous and I am very happy about it. I already can't wait til we do it again next year. Fortunately I am doing another knitting weekend in April (see above), so I get to do it again sooner, but just with different people. Four people are already signed up for the March 2011 Knitting Weekend, so that is fabulous. I only have 8 more spaces left! There are still 3 spaces left in April this year! 

We had a blast. Everyone arrived at the knitter's reception at Unique One at 7 p.m., and we had wine and cheese and crackers, and salmon/dill hors d'oeuvres (see recipe below), and shrimp cocktail and chocolate dipped fruit and lots of time to knit and yak about knitting and meet new people. Then we went to the Lord Camden Inn and continued the party until it was time to go to bed!

Saturday started with a beautiful breakfast at the Inn, followed by lots and lots of knitting and talking. Some people went in and out to take naps, go for a scenic drive and look at  the ocean, shop in Camden, or take a walk. It was all very relaxed and unhurried. People went out in two's and three's to grab lunch at the Camden Deli or Camden House of Pizza (Sarah and I brought pizzas back to the Inn so we wouldn't have to stop knitting!) and then in the afternoon we knit some more. There was lots of laughter and lots of learning. I helped Vivian and Jennifer figure out Judy's Magic Cast On for making toe-up socks, after I figured out how to do it myself, heh heh. Jennifer got off to a good start on a pair of toe-up socks; I will have to do that soon. She was doing two socks at a time from the toe up. Seems like such a great idea!

I re-wrote the Compass and Anchors hat pattern for my sister, Rachel, to suit her particular gauge. I think it will come out nicely. I also helped her figure out how to change the baby cables fingerless mitts pattern to suit her gauge. Lots of people started the baby cable fingerless mittens, especially since I had the pattern and the yarn in their goodie bags. I finished the second mitten on Saturday morning, and they are pretty nice, if I must say so myself. 

The rest of the weekend I worked on the modular scarf that was originally being designed and knit for the modular knitting class that got cancelled, so now it is a knitting pattern for the knitting cruise. It turns out that I needed 7 squares, and it only takes 45 minutes to an hour per square, so the whole scarf takes me only about 8 hours all together to knit. I finished the scarf on Sunday night (last night) and I would have brought it in to take pictures of it this morning, but Nora decided that it was hers. She was sleeping on it this morning and just refused to move. I guess she likes it a lot. It is quite nice.

Speaking of pictures, I didn't really get any. Apparently I was too busy knitting! However I think Conny got a few that she might share with me  :)

So now I am down to 4 projects, the easy socks from Frolicking Feet in color Cherry Pits; the off white baby blanket; spinning my BFL, and the Hard Alee Aran pullover I am making for the knitting cruise. I also got spinning again on my Quebec wheel, which I am madly in love with now that I know how to adjust the tension and put the drive band on correctly, and I am finishing up spinning some blue fluff I got at SPA in around 2008. I only have a little more to spin, and 2 bobbins to Navajo ply, and then I will have about 4 skeins of lovely 3-ply worsted-ish weight yarn to do something with. I'm making progress. 

Salmon & Dill Hors D'Oeuvres:

Cut smoked salmon into pieces that will fit on crackers. Spread rice crackers (or your favorite kind of crackers) with Kraft garlic & herb mayo, OR tartar sauce. Place salmon on cracker, and top with a sprig of fresh dill. Yummy! And so easy to prepare!